Cam followers of said type are known as valve drive elements which tap the stroke of a cam of a camshaft in a low-friction manner by means of a cam roller and transmit said stroke to a gas exchange valve. Said cam followers may be embodied either as linearly guided roller tappets or as pivotably mounted roller levers. The limitation of the axial play of the cam roller is provided by side walls of a housing of the cam follower, by virtue of the side walls having run-on surfaces for the end surfaces of the cam roller.
Said run-on surfaces are conventionally part of the side walls which are of substantially planar design in the region of the cam roller, wherein an undesirably high degree of sliding friction can occur between the end surfaces of the cam roller and the run-on surfaces depending on the surface quality of said run-on surfaces. Furthermore, in the event that the side walls do not run sufficiently parallel to one another, undefined points of edge contact can occur between the cam roller and run-on surfaces, with corresponding edge wear.